A Multi Center, Epidemiological Study of Bone Tuberculosis in Southwest China from 2011 to 2023.

Background: Despite continued efforts to manage and control Tuberculosis (TB) in China, it remains a major health concern. Bone tuberculosis (Bone-TB), a common form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, still adds considerably to the global TB case load. Diagnosing Bone-TB is often difficult as its symptoms can be similar to other bone or joint diseases, which leads to delayed detection and treatment. Currently, comprehensive reports on the epidemiological aspects of Bone-TB in China are scarce.
Methods: This retrospective study analyzed demographic and clinical data from 2,191 patients diagnosed with Bone-TB in Southwest China between January 2011 and September 2023.This study fully reveals the characteristics of Bone-TB in Southwest China.
Results: The overall trend of bone tuberculosis was a slow rise. Among 2191 patients, males, farmers, aged 42-68 years, and people with HIV and diabetes are the priority groups for the prevention and treatment of Bone-TB. The majority of the infected spines (1556/2191) were located in the thoracic vertebra (759/2191) and lumbar vertebra (715/2191). Forty-nine (2.24%) patients had drug-resistant TB (DR-TB). Forty-five (2.05%) died during the treatment. The total and actual hospitalization. Costs amounted to $3,837.10 and $1,914.35 (p < 0.01). Patients with DR-TB incurred the highest costs, amounting to $4,968.37. Cervical TB, with a prevalence of 5 patients (6.10%), exhibited the highest rates of catastrophic expenditures.
Conclusions: From 2011 to 2023, the yearly occurrence of Bone-TB in southwestern China exhibited a rising pattern, marked by notable distinctions in terms of gender, age, and regional variations, indicating localized clustering characteristics.
Competing Interests: Declarations Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate As per the Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University and the Fourth People’s Hospital of Nanning, written informed consent from each patient was deemed unnecessary for this study due to the removal of all sensitive patient information prior to analysis. The study adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval from the Ethics Committee of the Fourth People’s Hospital of Nanning and the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University (Approval number: 2023-36-01, NO.2022-KY-E-152). Consent for Publication Not applicable. Competing Interests The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)